Recent content by tinkymalinky

I got two new pullets about 3 weeks ago, and one of them very quickly developed watery diarrhoea. She is behaving normally in every other way, and laying fine. They are eating the same feed that came from the breeder, and she seems to be eating normally (although not top of the pecking order so...

I'm not so bothered about whether she earns her keep - these are definitely pets not livestock, at least as far as my daughter and husband are concerned! I just don't want to let her suffer if she's got very little chance of recovery.

I have a Nera hen, Lady Marmalade, about 8 months old. Last Monday I took her to the vet because she was just standing about listlessly, not scratching or doing the usual chickeny things, and when I picked her up I realised she had lost a lot of weight - now only 1.5kg (3lb 5oz). The vet...

I've got one Light Sussex and one Nera. You may be right about the breed, but I've got them now. I don't want more than three hens at a time given the limitations of space. Azygous is right, I think - the run is annoying me more than the birds. I spent some time looking at it yesterday and...

Thanks for all your helpful suggestions. I'll take some pics tomorrow (it's getting dark here now). I'll definitely put some straw down - stupid that I didn't think of it before. I'm reluctant to buy more birds because I don't think there's really room for 4 in this space, and I don't want to...

I thought that I would love to see chickens pottering about in my garden, but it hasn’t worked out that way. Mostly I just feel guilty about the fact that they haven’t got much space and seem a bit bored a lot of the time. I only have 2 hens now (used to be 3 but the old ex-bat died). The two...